It now appears that US security authorities were aware of the potential problem in 2007, the year then-Veep Dick Cheney was fitted with a new defibrillator by Dr. Jonathan Reiner.

In a video posted here and embdeded below, Dr Reiner says “It seemed to me to be a bad idea for the vice-president of the United States to have a device that maybe someone on a rope line or someone in the next hotel room or somebody downstairs might be able to get into, hack into.”

Turning to Cheney he says: ”I worried that someone could kill you.”

Cheney responds: “I was aware of the danger.”

The idea of a vice-presidential implant being used to attack the holder of the office often said to have only one function – having a heartbeat – was later used in an episode of US television drama Homeland. Cheney says in the video that episode featuring the attack “was an accurate portrayal of what was possible.” ®